Campus life is full and busy with an abundance of activities available for students including after-school clubs, sports, music, art, and drama opportunities. The student center which opens at lunch and after school also gives students a comfortable place to socialize.

The campus facilities include a swimming pool, outdoor basketball and tennis courts, a playground, and an indoor gym. The boarding program owns several kayaks that students may use on weekends. Students also visit local shopping malls, bowling alleys and movie theaters on the weekends, as well as many local restaurants (including Malaysian, Indian and Thai cuisine, plus McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Chili’s, Friday’s, etc.) Dalat dorms are a great place to get involved in lots of different activities, while also developing close friendships.

Where are the meals served for dorm students?

Breakfasts are served in each individual dorm on Mondays through Saturdays. Sunday breakfast is served in the cafeteria. Lunches, suppers and most weekend meals are served in the cafeteria which has indoor and outdoor seating by the ocean. For Saturday suppers, dorms either eat a homemade meal at home or go out to eat together at local stalls or restaurants. Sunday lunch is provided by the cafeteria but served family-style in the dorm.

How many students share a room?

Each dorm has 6 bedrooms with furniture for 3 students per room. Depending on the number of students in each dorm, each bedroom usually has between 2-3 students. Roommates are assigned carefully to ensure the best possible match. Roommate assignments sometimes change between semesters, depending on circumstances and student requests.

What chores are required of dorm students?

Dorm students are expected to keep their rooms tidy and to clean up after themselves in the public areas (i.e. – do their own dishes, tidy up their books in the study room, etc.).

Dorm students also do deeper cleaning of their bedrooms on Saturdays which includes sweeping/mopping their floor, vacuuming their rug, emptying their garbage, and cleaning their bathroom and sink area.

On Sundays, students help pick up the cafeteria lunch and do set up and clean up for the family meal.

Daily laundry service and general dorm housekeeping is provided for each dorm family. The dorm laundry room is available for students to use if they wish to do their own laundry. Boys and girls are given different days to use the laundry facilities.

Once a semester, dorm families typically participate in a community service project.

The handbook shows our commitment to developing and maintaining healthy guidelines and boundaries for dorm students and the boarding community.

The guidelines are designed to balance the needs of each individual with the needs of the community. Students are given as much freedom as possible, while respecting and honoring the needs of others. We believe that the benefits of living in community far outweigh whatever personal sacrifices each individual makes out of consideration for others.

The following key values form the foundation for the dorm rules:

Spiritual growth

Respect for others

Personal responsibility and integrity

Healthy relationships

Reaching one’s fullest potential

Positive attitude

Personal health and safety

Community service

These values combined with personal integrity can help dorm students make wise decisions as they grow up and enter adulthood.

How are dorm students disciplined?

Our goal as caregivers is to mentor and disciple our students to deeper spiritual growth and personal responsibility. While we expect students to live within the boundaries of our community guidelines, we do not expect them to be perfect. While consequences are given for misbehavior, every student is treated with respect, dignity and unconditional love. The purpose of discipline is to help students learn from their mistakes and grow in maturity and integrity.

As a staff team, we care more about the heart condition of our students than their outward performance. We focus our efforts on spiritual nurture rather than behavior modification (within the parameters of community living). We guard against a legalistic approach to discipline; instead we are committed to developing open and trusting relationships and guiding students to wise decisions.

How can dorm students communicate with their parents?

Dorm students are expected to bring a hand phone to school, so that they can keep in close contact with their parents. If parents do not hear from their student at least once a week, they can inform the dorm parents who will encourage the student to communicate regularly.

Since 1929, Dalat International School has offered an American, college-preparatory education. Dalat’s excellent academic and boarding programs are well-known around the world. We are located in Penang, Malaysia.